The Given Choices

*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter Nineteen*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Only the crackle of the lit fireplace and the turn of pages from books were the only sounds that came from the Gryffindor common room; since several days after the rest of the students left for the Christmas holiday. There were three Gryffindors left, but two slept in the sibling dorms in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tower, leaving Hermione Granger on her own. Yet, they did not realize that she was only alone with her cat during the nights but the days were spent with a young man, who would not normally be allowed in the brave Gryffindor common room. Draco Malfoy had been a visitor for the past five days and was getting used to the different atmosphere than the darker dungeons he called home.

The two unlikely friends were on their way to being more. If a person were to ask Hermione for the truth about them, she would've stated that they were just dating. Yet, if the same question would be asked to young mister Malfoy, he would most likely claim to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Well at least that was what he was wanting but after several conversations in the warm common room, she admitted that she wanted to take things slow and build their friendship with their romantic life. Neither too fast for fear that both of them breaking apart since it was a very fragile setting to begin with.

Draco respected her wishes, as they became more of each other's life without the pressure from outside sources, which were currently staying at the Burrow. They also had kept their friendship away from the other students by not walking together nor sitting by each other at meals. When the meals were finished, they would meet up in either the library or the sanctuary of the Gryffindor tower; which she had waited and opened the portrait for him, without him knowing the password.

The fifth night with rest of the Gryffindors gone, Hermione and Draco were lounged on the couch reading, as he had his head in her lap with one hand holding up the book, The Two Towers, and the other in the fur of Crookshanks, who made his home on the Slytherin's stomach. She was deep into a book about the changes in Potions making over the past five hundred years, which was from the Malfoy library that Draco had lent her. Her fingers lightly alternated from turning the pages of the tome and running through Draco's soft, light-blond hair.

They had been reading for the three hours after dinner and still had an hour before curfew when the gray lady walked through the wall and stated, "Miss Granger, I was in the hallway when I noticed a woman at the portrait but alas your guardian is off talking to another painting near the Astronomy tower the last time I saw. The woman offered her name to be Mrs. Malfoy and wishes to see you. I am not sure how long she was been out there but she was very polite about the whole matter."

Both bodies on the couch froze at the name of Draco's mother. Hermione forced a smile and replied, "Thank you. Tell her I will be out in a moment."

"Yes, Miss Granger," the gray lady commented as she floated out the room.

Draco pushed the irritated cat off his lap as he whispered, "Mum didn't mention in her last letter about coming. I promise I would've given you more notice than this."

"You can talk in a regular tone. She can't hear you," Hermione snapped at him as she rose to her feet and walked to the entrance. Her feet stopped when she noticed that he was not following her. "Is there any reason why she can't know you are here? No? Then good because I am not letting you run loose in the tower with me gone. Now, lets go see what your mother wants."

He smirked and gave a slight bow as he said, "Yes, my lady." She then took in and let out a deep breath as he murmured, "She does not bite. You'll be fine."

With Draco in tow behind her, Hermione opened the door and stepped out as she saw the form of Mrs. Malfoy by the wall admiring a painting of tropical forest. The woman glanced their way and gave a slight smile as she approached the two of them. Her son stepped to the side of her and put a reassuring hand at the small of her back as he spoke, "Mum, this is an unexpected surprise. But I would like to introduce the two of you. Mother, this is Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Prefect. Hermione, this would be my mother, Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy."

The elder, regal-like female extended her pale right hand that held on emerald, onyx ring. Hermione noticed how warm her skin actually was and how the thin lips smiled brighter when Draco had called her by her first name. Mrs. Malfoy responded, "It is wonderful to finally meet you, Miss Granger. I have heard much about you from my son. But felt the need to get to know this remarkable young woman for myself. Would the two of you accompany me to the dungeons where Severus is awaiting us?"

"Yes, that would be fine. We were just doing some reading. It is also nice to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione commented as Draco took his place on her right side as his mother walked to her left. The very presence of the woman was intimidating as the way she carried herself reminded her of royalty and firm self-confidence that she wished to one day have.

The group of unlikely three made their way down the staircases towards the direction of the dungeons. As if Draco was reading her mind, he took her hand in his as they walked and gave it soft squeezes to settle her nerves. His mother spoke as the reached the ground floor, "It is nice to visit Hogwarts again. I do wish I had more chances to come around but I would not like to interfere with your life here, my dear."

"I would not mind if you came here once or twice. I am sorry that I am not able to be home this Christmas," the young man to Hermione's right commented as they walked down passed the Great Hall, which was empty.

The long, thick velvet robes of black fit Narcissa's form perfectly as if they were made for her, which they probably were. Silk ribbon of the hem barely touched the stone floor as the slightest trace of black-heeled shoes could be seen along the bottom. Similar ribbon held up the light blonde ringlets of her hair in an old-fashion style that complimented her high cheekbones. The light from the flickering candles which lit the way down to the dungeons showed the light blue eyes of his mother as she glanced toward them or more to the point of the place where their hands joined.

Hermione almost withdrew her hand from his but stopped when Mrs. Malfoy smile at the sight of the joined hands and gave a soft smile to her. Narcissa Malfoy continued to slightly lead the way when she remarked, "It's been a long time since I went down these halls. Usually, I was using the secret passage that went right by the entrance, especially when I needed to make a late night dash from the Slytherin tower back to my dorms."

Draco stepped up the Potions room door and opened it for them as Hermione asked, "You were not in Slytherin, Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Always asking questions," the voice of the Potions Master came from behind his desk as he stood when the trio entered the room. "I would like to know when you take a holiday from asking questions."

Hermione followed Mrs. Malfoy into the room but could not stop herself as she replied, "I will stop when there are no longer anything I need to learn from the questions I ask. Last time I checked, this was a school, which is a place to learn. Hence, asking questions to learn at a school would seem most appropriate."

"She has a point, Severus," Narcissa Malfoy replied as she headed toward were his office door and stopped to look back at the three watching her. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she pointed to Draco as she stated, "Draco my dear, help Severus with some of that grading. I am sure there are some first years tests that it would be safe-enough for you to mark up. Please keep my son occupied Severus while we use your study."

Snape raised a curious eyebrow at her statement but then looked toward Hermione, who followed the elder woman into the office. She took note the glare from her Potions Master, which translated to 'tell anyone or touch anything and you will be cleaning cauldrons for a month.'

Mrs. Malfoy headed to the rows of filled jars and lifted one on the top shelf, which revealed a staircase in the bottom of the floor lower. She nodded her head as she lead the way down the circular, iron-rod steps and clanged softly with each step. Slowly Hermione followed the blonde woman down the stairs as she was wondering if this was such a good idea. The steps were very sturdy and continued to circle around when she saw the room they were going into. It was a large, circular room with four wooden doors equally spaced apart by walls covered with books. Hermione felt that she could easily spend a year in here reading to her heart's content, but she knew that she would doubt ever seeing Snape's personal study ever, ever again.

As the reached the bottom of the stairs, she noticed that the floor was in black carpeting and the wood of the desk, chairs, and bookcases were all done in a beautiful cherry-finish. Mrs. Malfoy took on the of matching Queen Anne chairs and motioned for Hermione to take the other one as she started to speak, "Miss Granger, I want you to be very truthful to me because whatever you say will never leave this room. Nor will my husband ever find out that I was here to begin with. To answer your question, I was not in Slytherin. The sorting had decided Ravenclaw over Slytherin. But I spent many hours within the walls of these dungeons, I can assure you. My cousin and my closest friend were in this noble house when I went to school here. Now, I do have a few questions I'd like to ask you. First, what do you feel for my son?"

Okay, they go straight for the hard question then. Hermione sat and placed her hands nervously in her lap as she thought for a moment. "Well, as you might know, your son and I have not always been on the best of terms. I know this changed when he was informed of my true heritage. Since the beginning of the school year, he was been kind to me and has befriended me. We are seeing each other but it is nothing serious. Our friendship is so new that I don't want to rush anything."

"I see," was the mother's only commented as she took several minutes to examine her as she sat and then continued, "I was also surprised to hear of your parentage. My dear cousin had also kept that secret from me all these years. But I do understand her reasons keeping it to herself. Now, I'd like some information about you, my dear. It is well known of your high-intelligence. What do you plan on doing after you leave these walls of Hogwarts?"

"I have been considering three options: becoming an Auror with my friends, becoming an Unspeakable, and lastly, becoming a Mistress in Potions. I am currently weighing the pros and cons to each with hopes of coming to an answer by spring," she explained.

The lovely woman, who was actually her own great aunt, which was an odd truth to realize, flicked her wand to make a full tea tray appear and began to serve herself. "All three are highly possible fields for you. You need to choose the one that will best satisfy you. I could see you doing extremely well in all of them. It is to your advantage having one of the best Potions Masters here at such an easily accessible to you."

Hermione sighed and helped herself to some hot tea as murmured, "Not very accessible me. He doesn't seem to like me very much."

"I think Severus would like you once he got passed that fact you are a Gryffindor, who just happens to be close to the son of James Potter. My advice for getting him to accept you is that you don't need to flaunt your intelligence in class. Give others the opportunity to learn from him but by there when the information is asked for. Allow him to see you aside from the red and gold friend of Harry Potter.

"Now, how are you and my cousin getting along?" Mrs. Malfoy asked as she brought the china cup to her lips and glance over the rim at her.

Hermione warmed her hands with the warm cup and stated, "Our first meeting went fine. Blaise and I are friends and he had gone with me. It was short but good primary discussion and she answered a couple questions I had."

"May I ask why Blaise went with you and not Draco?"

"I guess I wanted a completely neutral party with me. If I had invited Ginny Weasley with me, it might have made Bellatrix uncomfortable. With Draco there, it might have been more comfortable for me but just because it was the first meeting. Also, during that timeframe, we were not speaking but nothing to worry about there. We worked it out," Hermione said.

Mrs. Malfoy lowered her cup to the floating tea tray and watched her carefully as she continued her questions, "Tell me, Miss Granger. Where do your loyalties lie?"

What question Hermione was expecting it was not that and she almost caused her to swallow a huge gulp of piping hot liquid. She set aside her cup as she slowly finished the drink in her mouth before answering. The conversation was now on a very serious manner that could turn ugly considering the person she was talking to. " I am a best friend of Harry Potter. Where else would my loyalties lie? Or maybe I should ask where yours lie, Mrs. Malfoy?"

The woman lowered her eyes as she closed them and a sad look crept upon her face as she responded, "I am a wife. I support my husband just as a wife should."

"Even when the husband is a Death Eater?" Hermione half-whispered, half-hissed.

"Yes, even then," Mrs. Malfoy answered as she opened her eyes and looked directly at Hermione. "I never said I agreed with his opinions and values. I am as a wife is expected to be. I can be no less than the perfect wife in his eyes. There are no other choices for me, Miss Granger. But Draco still has the choice to make and a choice you can influence."

Hermione shook her head as she stated, "The decision for which side Draco chooses must be his decision to make. I can not make it for him."

Mrs. Malfoy replied, "Of course, you can not make it for him. But he cares for you but at the same time he is being tempted by the things my husband is offering him. While he is here, you have more time to focus on bringing him to the light side with you and away from the power that Lucius is offering him. You see him almost every day, where his father does not. Your love can show him the reasons for being by your side during this war and not at his father's side.

She stood and walked over to the nearest bookshelf as her voice was directed to the rows of books but still being heard by the young woman in the chair. Narcissa ran her fingers slowly over the backs of the texts and proceed with the conversation, "On my fifteenth birthday, my present from my father was the announcement of my arranged marriage to Lucius Malfoy. Mother and him were so proud to find such an equally strong pureblood family to join with theirs. Not caring, if that was my choice nor if I wanted things with my life. My father informed me on my way back to Hogwarts my sixth year, that I was not going to coming back here for my seventh and that after the wedding in December I was going to be moving into the Malfoy manor to began producing heirs.

"I had seen Lucius when he was here. He was a five years older than me but yes, I remembered him. He was never a person to be forgotten. It was rumored to be involved with the dark arts, but either my parents did know or didn't care as long as he was pureblood and came with plenty of money, which of course he did. I cried all the way back to school with Bellatrix and my Slytherin friend trying to console me. It was Bella's seventh year and for my friend, it was his fifth." Mrs. Malfoy turned around and took her seat again.

Hermione waited patiently, even though questions were already flowing but she knew it was not the time to ask them. Narcissa took a long sip from her cup before she began again, "The three of us were always seen with each other outside of classes but after that winter everything changed. Mrs. Black owled Bella the week of Halloween that her marriage had been arranged for two years because Rodolphus was entering an apprenticeship and they were to be married when he finished. So, by the end of the year, I was leaving Hogwarts to marry the man, who did not hold my heart, and expected to be by his side never questioning, never second-guessing, and do his bidding till death. I was not given any choices. After Draco's birth three years after of wedding, I had finally made a choice that Lucius had no idea about. I took a potion that made me barren for having any more children. I could not bear to see any more children force to walk the dark path he was making for the family. I had always wanted a daughter but I could not force her to the live the life I was given; a life without choices."

A tear rolled down Hermione's cheek but she was startled when Professor Snape appeared at Mrs. Malfoy's side. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and the look of concern in his eyes was a powerful sight to see. Then it all connected; he was her best friend from school who was a year behind her. Of course, that discovery only multiplied the questions in her mind but Hermione stood and said, "The choice of Draco's path is his own. But I will do everything in my power to help him choose the light side. I think I should go. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Malfoy. And rest assured I will not speak of this to anyone."

Mrs. Malfoy rose from her chair and took Hermione's hands as she stated, "Thank you for hearing me out and you can tell that to Draco, if it helps him turn to your side. Have a good night, my dear. If you should ever need anything, send a message with Severus. He always has a way of getting a message through without Lucius's being aware of anything."

"I need to show Miss Granger to her tower since it is after curfew. I already sent your son to his room. Sit here, Narcissa, for I will not be long," Snape stated as he led Hermione up the stairs to his office.

They walked in silence through the corridors of Hogwarts, as she was lost in her thoughts over the discussion she just had. After starting up the last set of stairs toward Gryffindor tower, something fought within her that had to be said but she was not sure if the timing was proper. But with him returning to talk to Mrs. Malfoy maybe she would be able to speak with him about it. "Professor Snape, would you recommend Potions as a profession for me, sir?"

Without even missing a step, he replied, "I was under the impression that the Golden Trio were going to become Aurors and save the world."

"We can save the world without being Aurors, Professor," Hermione chuckled as they reached the top of the staircase. "This member of the Golden Trio is capable of making her own decision that would be best for herself, even if it is away from the other two. I know Potions is important during the war and would make a good career afterward. For there is life after this is all over."

"For some, yes and others, no," Snape commented as he stood with his hands behind his back and looked her up and down. The subtle art and science of potion making is a rare ability to find but can be mastered if properly taught and if the person is truly right for it."

Hermione raised her head as she ignored the fat lady in the portrait, who kept clearing her throat to get her attention to let her in. The Gryffindor watched the Potions Master quietly for a moment before she asked, "Am I truly right for it, Professor Snape?"

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her bravery for asking. With a calculated look, he stated, "Perhaps, an apprenticeship with a Master in Potions could be arranged, if all conditions are correct. But don't get your hopes up, Miss Granger. There are a lot of things that could change my mind before the end of the school year. By the spring holiday I want a ten feet on why you would like to study Potions under my guidance and what you would like to research, if you are chosen. Mind you, I have chosen only one student in ten years to study under me. In addition, I want five recommendations from you for the apprenticeship and they should be people that I respect mind you. Finding five should be close to impossible. Good night, Miss Granger. I have other things to do than plan your future this evening."

"Thank you for your time and considering me. I look forward to the challenge, Professor," she replied as he nodded and made his way back to his dungeons with his billowing black robes behind him. With a chuckle, Hermione turned to the portrait and stated the password, "Whomping Willow."

*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~* to be continued *~**~*~*~*~*~*~